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DeLauro Statement on Trump’s 2019 Budget Proposal

WASHINGTON, DC (February 12, 2018) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding President Trump’s 2019 budget. DeLauro is the Ranking Member on the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

“President Trump’s 2019 budget is yet another betrayal of his promise to help the American people, especially our most vulnerable citizens and those who are struggling to make ends meet. Astonishingly, it would add over $7 trillion to our national debt while decimating critical social safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the list goes on and on.”

“At its core, this budget wholeheartedly endorses the repeal of the Affordable Care Act through the cruel Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal, which would lead to 32 million Americans losing their health coverage and the end of Medicaid as we know it. This monstrous plan would force Governors to make decisions as to who and what should be covered by Medicaid, and would no doubt leave far too many of our country’s most vulnerable citizens—seniors in nursing homes, infants, children, and individuals with disabilities—without the health care and services they desperately need. The ACA has saved and improved the lives of millions of Americans, and the American people spoke loudly and clearly last year against its repeal.”

“President Trump has repeatedly promised to stand up for American workers, yet he has once again gone back on that promise by proposing a 10 percent cut to the agency that stands up for workers’ rights, investigates labor law violations, and promotes equality of opportunity. This is not the way to treat American workers—who are the lifeblood of our economy. His budget also eliminates many Department of Education programs, including grants to promote literacy, afterschool programs, arts in education, community schools, promise neighborhoods, teacher professional development, school counseling, Special Olympics, and supplemental grants for the neediest college studies. Trump’s budget also makes shortsighted cuts to nurse workforce training and CDC’s public health activities, while failing to increase investment in NIH research. On top of that, Trump’s budget makes deep and illogical cuts the Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers—agencies that are critical to carrying out any proposed infrastructure plan like the one the President proposed this morning.”

“Another item of particular note is Trump’s parental leave proposal, which falls far short of what our nation needs. Instead of this half-hearted and narrow measure, Congress should immediately take up the FAMILY Act, which would provide comprehensive and fully-funded paid family and medical leave for workers to deal with a serious illness or care for a newborn child without losing weeks’ worth of wages.”

“Overall, the President’s budget is a disaster for the American people. Democrats and Republicans have already agreed to proceed down a better path by passing a two-year budget agreement. Hopefully Republicans will keep their promises, thereby consigning this Administration’s irrelevant proposal to the trash where it belongs.”